An understated masterpiece. Grueling and evocative.
Harry Andrews (Superman, 1978) plays Sergeant Major Bert Wilson, the
chief guard in a brutal British military prison camp in North Africa during WWII. The story opens as Wilson welcomes a new guard and offers him a treatise on his penal philosophy. His newest prot. jitendra_chauhan1 watch The Killing Floor movie
BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI as Oscar-worthy as any film made in the '50s is David Lean's gripping BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI. Based loosely on a real-life incident, it tells the story of an imprisoned British officer (Alec Guinness) who loses sight of his mission when forced to build a bridge for the Japanese that will enable the enemy to carry supplies by train through the jungle during World War II. Guinness plays the crisp British officer to perfection, brilliant in all of his scenes but especially in his confrontations with Sessue Hayakawa. William Holden has a pivotal role as one of the prisoners who escapes and enjoys his freedom for awhile before being asked to return with a small squadron to destroy the bridge. Jack Hawkins and Geoffrey Horne have colorful roles too and all are superb under David Lean's direction. The jungle settings filmed in Ceylon add the necessary realism to the project and there is never a suspension of interest although the story runs well over two-and-a-half hours. The film builds to a tense and magnificent climax with an ending that seems to be deliberately ambiguous and thought provoking. Well worth watching, especially if shown in the restored letterbox version now being shown on TCM. Some of the best lines go to William Holden and he makes the most of a complex role--a mixture of cynicism and heroism in a character that ranks with his best anti-hero roles in films of the '50s. He brings as much conviction to his role as Alec Guinness does and deserved a Best Actor nomination that he did not get..
AVOLAVO_1964@YAHOO.COM watch Factotum movie
see also high noon.
How hot the sun seems in black and white
This movie is one of my all time favourites. Not only is it a high strung
drama impossible to take one's eyes off, it also shows a number of more or less subtle tricks of the trade which contemporary directors could learn a lot from. I particularly liked the strikingly high contrast in the outdoor scenes which made the sun look even more scorching. Less subtle but certainly not less effective were the high/low camera angles when the staff had their little differences. In the mutiny scene the camera seemed at times to be even below the floor.. |
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